Pixar Animation Studios review: Conclusion

I am glad this actually got done within 4 months, and I enjoyed every single moment of it. When I like something, I tend to write more about it, and when reviewing brilliant films that I am invested in, I am in a better mood, and it involves a more insightful review. After the more dire Disneytoons canon, and taking a break in the summer due to work, returning to this was extremely refreshing. It’s a brilliant way to end the year on, which was extremely negative this time last year with the Disneytoon reviews.

Here are my current rankings of the films.

• 1. WALL-E: 89%
• 2. Inside Out: 86%
•      Toy Story 3: 86%
• 4. The Incredibles: 85%
• 5. Finding Nemo: 84%
• 6. Ratatouille: 83%
• 7. Toy Story 2: 81%
•      Finding Dory: 81%
• 9. Toy Story: 79%
•      Up: 79%
• 11. Coco: 78%
• 12. A Bug’s Life: 76%
•       The Good Dinosaur: 76%
• 14. Monsters, Inc: 75%
• 15. Brave: 74%
• 16. Cars: 73%
•        Monsters University: 73%
• Cars 3: 73%
• 19. Incredibles 2: 69%
• 20. Cars 2: 64%

You can tell that the group of people behind these projects have been together since college, and seeing most of them become elders is a bit saddening for me, since the torch will have to be passed  over within the next decade or two.  With roughly a third of these films being conceptualized at a 1994/1995 lunch, and the creative fluctuation of ideas that were encouraged amongst the group, you can tell that they really saw these projects as their babies, and made these films for them firstly. Though there is a lot of sequels now (which is something they claimed to not do), the ideas behind most of them seem more genuine in comparison to most companies. You can really tell that the Pixar crew is a family, and they always pay tribute to the people who passed, whether they were animators, directors, producers, or storyboarders.

I did gloss over the fact that Pixar was not initially an animation studio, and that most of them worked for Lucasfilm first in the 70s (when most of them finished college). With Steve Jobs behind them, a lot of their product was made for computers, and then they slowly started to make shorts. When Disney wanted to partner with them, the idea of Toy Story was conceptualized, and Lasseter was obsessed with making a CGI animated film for over a decade before at that point. It was refreshing of them to not follow the common formula of the 90s, which was set due to the Disney Renaissance as well. I mentioned the infamous lunch that conceptualized most of the earlier works in the canon, and Disney decided to let the studio do their job regarding the production of their films with minimal input, but we know this would cause problems soon enough.

Eras, eras, eras………… Many people do not discuss Pixar into set-in-stone eras, but small, general ones. From what I can predict, I categorize the first 5 films to be in the same era due to Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, and Monsters, Inc being conceptualized at the same time, and the first 6 films (including The Incredibles) were the films that were made before the conflicts between Disney and Pixar ultimately led to the acquisition deal in 2006.  Cars can be considered a transitional film between both eras, though it is easier to include in the second era. Some people consider the next era to be Pixar’s best era, since the films (not including Cars) consist of the best streak of films, regarding quality of films, awards, box office, critical reception, and overall maturity of the themes. Honestly, you could easily add these two sub-eras into one large era, which is often considered to be Pixar’s “Golden age”. From Cars 2 onward, people see that the quality of their films have decreased, and they are not the top animation studio anymore. It is not that they are horrible, but just a bit inconsistent, which was seen especially regarding the awards, and the fact that a lot more companies entered the animation industry within this decade. With the films that are upcoming (Cars 3, Coco, The Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4), the trend seems to continue.

Regarding my personal experience reviewing these films, it was brilliant. I noticed that my stats increased (a lot of the Pixar reviews shot up to being the top posts of the year within……. a day or two), and the reviews tended to be longer in word-length, the more and more I reviewed these films. Being in a positive mindset while reviewing films changes how you argue your point, and how you write, and I noticed the huge contrast compared to early 2016, compared to now. Most of these films I have not seen in years, either due to me blatantly ignoring them since 2013 (knowing I would review Pixar someday), or just not having the opportunity to watch any of them, so reuniting with these films was exhilarating. So many more underlying themes were easier for me to pick up, and seeing the films through an adult eye only made me appreciate most of these films in a better light.

Now, it is the end of the year, and I am aware that a lot of people are winding down for the holidays (heck, it’s why this post is being posted now instead of Sunday). I still have a few posts before the end of the year, one which consists of Females in Pixar films, and what I plan to discuss on the blog for next year. Of course, the Best and Worst Animated Films of 2016, which will be posted on New Years, like always. I won’t be able to write a review of Sing beforehand, but it will be included in the list, since I do plan on going to theaters in the next few days (the second film in a row I am paying to actually watch). Thanks for reading. What do you all think of Pixar as of right now?

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